Dalton knew better than anyone just how lucky he was. With everything that had gone on, he’d been planning on talking to Liam about getting his place back, but obviously the older man had already thought about it. Liam could have easily decided he had no place in the club again, but he’d done him a solid. One of many he’d never forget.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He turned before walking out of the clubhouse, leveling Dalton with a glare. It was one of warning, telling him not to fuck up again, because next time he wouldn’t be so polite or forgiving. “Make sure that you don’t.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
For six weeks, the club had been waiting to see if Calvert and his men would retaliate, but it had been quiet. Some would say too quiet, but for others it was a welcome reprieve.
“You ready for this?” Mandy asked as Dalton slid into the driver’s seat of her car.
They had been working on getting things back to normal between the two of them. It wasn’t perfect, and Mandy wasn’t sure it ever would be, but she loved him in a way she hadn’t before. Having almost lost him, it was a deeper, fuller kind of love. She knew some people would call her crazy, but she couldn’t help her feelings. He made her feel better about herself, and at the end of the day, she’d take that over the concept of a perfect love every time. They weren’t perfect, but they were perfect for each other.
He smiled over at her, his eyes tired, a couple days’ beard growth on his face. They’d taken to having very late nights now that her morning sickness had abated. “I haven’t been more ready for anything in my life,” he answered honestly.
“Me neither.” She leaned over and grabbed his hand in hers.
There had been times the last few weeks they’d argued and things hadn’t been easy. A few times she’d wanted to give up and let things go, but both of them had persevered.
“I’ve got this, Dalton. You’ve got to stop smothering me,” Mandy huffed as she grabbed the clothesbasket she was carrying out of his hands.
“It’s heavy, Mandy,” he forced out through clenched teeth. “You shouldn’t be liftin’ it.”
“I did that and more when I was by myself and you were finding yourself, Dalton.” She met his glare with one of her own. “I can take care of myself.”
“You can, but I’m here now.” He yanked the basket back out of her hands. “And letting me carry a goddamn laundry basket is the least of things I’m gonna be doing, baby doll.”
She trailed after him, muttering under her breath.
There had definitely been trials and tribulations. She had expected them, and they hadn’t been scared off from each other yet. Truthfully, the making up had been her favorite part of the fighting.
“I’m really sorry I lost my temper earlier with the clothes basket,” Dalton apologized as he came in their dorm room. He carried a single flower in his hand, giving it to her with a flourish.
Mandy sat in the chair opposite the bed, marathoning some show on Netflix. With a bored look, she paused the stream and gave him a look. “I can do things on my own, and you’ve got to start letting me. This isn’t going to work if you don’t.” She shot him a glare.
He laughed.
“This isn’t funny, Dalton. I’m pissed. You can’t come in her with your sexy-ass swagger and a panty-melting grin on your face and expect me to forgive you.
“I can’t?” He gave her one of those grins, dropping to his knees in front of her.
“What are you doing?” she asked as he moved closer, putting his hands on her thighs, spreading them apart. “No, you can’t.”
“Oh, I can.” He licked his lips, glancing up at her. Luckily for him, today she’d worn a dress.
He winked at her as he pushed the skirt up her thighs with his hands, making sure she didn’t clamp them shut. When he could see, he moaned deeply in his throat. “No panties, huh?”
She shook her head, gulping a breath of air as he moved his hands to the juncture of her thighs. There, he used his thumbs to separate the flesh, and then waited for her to answer. “None of them fit anymore. I’m gonna need some new pairs,” she breathed out.
“Nah, babe.” He leaned in, flicking his tongue against the moisture that gathered. “Maybe I like you like this, bare anytime I wanna spread you open and have my way with you.”
Her moan was caught in her throat as he did just what he’d said he was going to do. She grabbed hold of his neck, pressing his mouth more firmly into her flesh. Throwing her head back against the chair, she let the passion takeover her body.
“Dalton.” She gasped when he gave a particularly lethal lick to her skin and pressed herself even closer. “Please don’t stop,” she begged, taking one hand from his head and trailing it up her rounded stomach, stopping when it got to the swell of her breast. Pushing the neck of her dress down, she extricated her nipple, flicking it in the same motion as Dalton’s tongue flicked her clit.
Within moments she’d fallen apart against him, sagging in the aftermath of one of the most powerful orgasms she’d ever had.
“Forgive me?” he asked, wiping his chin along her thigh.
She giggled, putting her hands over a face red with embarrassment. She’d come undone in such a short amount of time. It should be illegal, the way he made her feel. “Yeah.” She bit her lip as she leaned forward, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.
He grasped her neck, chasing the kiss, giving her his tongue. In that moment she realized a hard truth.
She’d forgive him for anything as long as he never stopped loving her like this.
They were finding out the sex of their baby today. Something they’d debated on between themselves for two weeks. At first she hadn’t wanted to know and he had. Then they’d flip flopped. Finally they were on the same page, and both agreed to find out.
“You okay?” Dalton asked as he parked the car. “You were quiet the whole ride here.”
“Yeah.” She grinned over at him. “Just thinking about how far we’ve come in the past few weeks.”
“We have come a long way in a short amount of time,” he agreed as he turned the car off. “Don’t touch that door.”
She smirked as he got out and jogged around the car. Since they’d gotten back together, he’d also been a consummate gentleman. When he got around to her side, he opened the door before helping her out of the car. She’d gotten a belly since the last time she’d been here, and it had thrown off her equilibrium a tiny bit. “You good?” he asked, supporting her with an arm around the back until she felt steady on her own.
“Yup. Let’s go.”
Walking through the building, she couldn’t help but compare this to the last time she was here. When she’d known he wouldn’t show. When she’d sat in the waiting room on her own, hoping for something different. He’d surprised her and had shown, but today it was a much different feeling—walking into the office with him offering a supporting hand on her back. It made her feel like it was them against the world.
They were the first appointment of the day and were ushered back quickly. They were set up for the ultrasound, and Dr. Sparks came in to check on them, making small talk for a few minutes before she got down to business.
“Things still going well? Any issues?” she asked as they prepped Mandy for the sonogram that would show them the sex of the baby.
“Nothing.” Mandy shook her head. “I’ve actually been able to stop the nausea medication since I started the second trimester.”
“Good, that’s what we hoped would happen.”
They talked for a few more minutes until the tech told them she was ready. They turned off the light and watched, paying rapt attention as she pointed out different parts of the body to them.
Dalton sat beside Mandy’s head, grinning as she showed them the fingers and toes, the hands, and other parts. He wanted to thank Mandy for not giving up on him, for letting him be there, when by all accounts he shouldn’t have been allowed. He’d been such a dick all those weeks ago
, scared to let his real feelings show, and scared to let this woman love him.
“Wait.” He laughed as he glanced at the screen again. Something had caught his attention, and he pointed. “Does that mean it’s a boy?”
The tech laughed along with him. “It does. Congrats you two, you’re having a boy.”
Mandy laughed too when she realized what everyone was pointing at. Pregnancy brain was a real thing with her, and it had made for some funny situations along the way. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry, not even when she heard the heartbeat again.
“No tears?” Dalton asked, surprised too. He’d come prepared with tissues and the promise of a trip to the coffee shop where they’d talked all those weeks ago. Looked like he wasn’t going to need either one of them today.
“No.” She shook her head, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. “Just happiness.”
That’s what they were focusing on now more than anything, and damned if it didn’t feel good.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Should we tell everybody tonight?” Mandy asked as they roamed the aisles of the local grocery store, picking up the ingredients for S’mores. The clubhouse was having a bonfire tonight, and everyone was expected to be there—including Deacon and Samuel.
The trouble they’d waited for had yet to show up, and they were all excited to spend some time together. It was almost too quiet, but they were enjoying it.
“Everybody’ll be there,” he reasoned. “It’ll be way easier to do it once than to do it a hundred times; then no one will be allowed to spoil it for anyone else. I say let’s do it.”
She had never been one to do the cutesy stuff, and she was too excited to keep it a secret for long. Being able to share this with Dalton and her family was all she’d ever wanted to do in the first place.
“We got everything?” he asked as they took inventory of their cart. “Graham crackers, Hershey’s, marshmallows, and a package of Kit Kat’s for the lady in my life.”
She blushed. She’d been craving Kit Kat’s like nobody’s business and had demolished two miniature packs on her own. “Thank you.” She leaned in, kissing him on the neck as they stood in line to check out.
One thing that had changed with the two of them was their PDA. Before, neither one of them hardly ever touched the other in public. Now, they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other; she liked to thank pregnancy hormones for that. Mandy figured it was a normal progression in their relationship, and while it had been embarrassing to her at first, now she loved it.
Dalton was more excited for this than he’d been for anything else in his life up to this point. Telling his family what they were having was an option he shouldn’t have. By all accounts, Mandy shouldn’t have taken him back, she shouldn’t have forgiven as easily as she had, and she damn sure shouldn’t be looking at him the way she did now. He figured, like everything else though, it was a personal preference, and he was lucky she was willing to overlook the stupid mistakes he’d made. No one was more grateful than him, but he was scared it’d be taken away at any given moment.
“Did you leave any at the store?” Drew asked as he came to help Dalton carry the bags back to the bonfire.
“A few, not many though; I know how this crowd is.”
Their friendship was getting back to normal, but it was slow going. Drew was still pissed he’d been left out of the loop, and Dalton was willing to gain his trust back, just like he had Mandy’s.
“It looks good on you,” Drew told him as they gathered up the bags.
“What does?”
Drew stopped what he was doing, giving Dalton his full attention. “Fatherhood, responsibility, love. It all looks good on you. There’s no doubt in my mind you got this. Let yourself enjoy it.”
Those words coming from his friend were enough to bring emotions he’d thought he’d gotten long past. But in actuality he’d been waiting, hoping for Drew to accept him again. “Linked together forever, huh?” Dalton grinned. “The way we always thought we would be.”
“Blood means nothing, but I’m glad my nephew or niece will have yours.”
One thing had popped to his mind as soon as they were told it was a boy. Would he have the family curse? Would all the things Dalton worried about come back to haunt him again?
He felt a responsibility to make sure his child didn’t have to worry the way he had. He’d make sure his son knew love, home, family, and what his word meant. He knew that everyone in this makeshift family would too.
“I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” Dalton dropped his bags and pulled his best friend into a hug. Relationships were healing, and that’s all he could ask for.
Hours later they all sat in front of the bonfire eating S’mores. Mandy sat in Dalton’s lap, his jacket around her shoulders. “Should we tell ’em?” she asked as she leaned into him.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” He fed her a gooey marshmallow, shooting her a hot look when she purposely used her tongue and teeth to get the sticky concoction off his finger.
He glanced around, noticing that everyone was in fact there. He could see Steele and Jagger, Rooster and Roni, Jess and Christine were over in the corner doing Addie’s hair, Tyler and Meredith sat huddled up together while B helped Carter roast a hot dog. Glancing around to make sure the most important people, Denise, Liam, Drew, and Charity along with Deacon and Samuel, were around, he whistled loudly.
“Can I have your attention?” he yelled over the talking.
Everyone settled down quickly, and he squeezed Mandy’s hip, letting her know he wanted her to tell them.
“While we have you all here tonight,” she made sure to look at everyone in turn, “Dalton and I wanted to let you know. We had a doctor’s appointment today, and they did a sonogram, so we know what we’re having.”
There were loud cheers as everyone yelled their choice for what they were having.
“Shhhhh!!!” Drew quietened everybody down. “I need to know if I’m teaching this kid to shoot, or if I’m teaching this kid to kick a boy in the balls.”
Everyone laughed, but turned their attention to Dalton and Mandy.
“So…” She grinned, letting suspense build slightly. “We’re having…”
“Oh c’mon,” Liam yelled.
She giggled. “A boy.”
There were equal parts cheers and equal parts boos. The girls in the family wanted another girl, and the boys were excited to add onto their count.
Dalton hugged her closely to him, his heart the fullest it had ever been. As they accepted congratulations after congratulations, he realized he wouldn’t change this for the world—wouldn’t even change what they had been through because it’d brought them out on the other side. They were stronger, braver, and hopefully smarter than they’d ever been.
Chapter Thirty
“It means a lot to me that you’ll come to a session.”
Mandy had been begging Dalton to come to a session with Doc Jones for a while, but he’d put it off for as long as possible. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the woman—he’d met her once or twice—he just didn’t like what she stood for.
After he and Deacon had been taken away from their parents, they’d been forced to endure counseling. They’d been made to tell people what had happened to them in detail; details they’d both wanted to forget. It hadn’t mattered if they wanted to or not. If they didn’t talk, they were punished.
“If it makes us stronger,” he held up their clasped hands, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
They walked up the front porch of Doc Jones’ office and home, and Mandy knocked on the door.
“C’mon in, you two.” The older woman ushered them in. “I was hoping at some point I’d see you two in a session together. I’m glad today’s the day.”
Mandy was too, because she had some things she wanted to say. Things she needed to get off her chest.
“Have a seat,” Doc Jones invited them to sit down on the couch. “Mandy asked me back w
hen the two of you reconciled if I would consider having a session with both of you, and I told her I would. I also explained to her that if she wanted to air her grievances, then you should be allowed to do the same. I’m someone who believes in equal opportunity bitching.”
Dalton let a puff of breath pass between his lips before he gave into a full belly laugh. “Good to know.” He put his arm around Mandy, pulling her in close. “Whatever you feel like you need to tell me, I want you to do it. I don’t want there to be secrets between us again.”
“Good.” Mandy pulled away, pushing her long dark hair behind her ears. Her eyes didn’t meet his, but she played with her fingers in her lap. “Because I have a lot to say, and I want to make sure you’re ready to hear it. It’s taken me a long time to decide I wanted to actually go here with you. I don’t want to set us back, you understand? But I want us to be able to move forward with a clean slate.”
So here it was. She’d been amazingly understanding in the moments since they’d gotten back together, he’d almost thought he was safe.
Cupping her cheeks with his hands, he forced her to meet his eyes. “I’m a big boy. I can take whatever you need to tell me. When we leave here the slate is clean.”
“Do you really mean that Dalton?” Doc Jones asked, watching him closely behind her glasses.
“This woman carries my child, she has been with me through thick and thin since we were teenagers, she forgave me for being the biggest dick on the face of the planet. If she needs answers, I can do that. If she needs me to man up so she can beat me down a bit, I can do that too.”
Mandy was quiet for a few minutes until Doc Jones gently pressured.
“Mandy, he can’t read your mind. You’ve got to tell him and put voice to those feelings.”
Blowing out a breath, she lifted her dark eyes up to meet his. “I’ve gone through all those things with you, yet I don’t have your patch.” The words were quietly spoken, so quiet he almost couldn’t hear them.
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